1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a cable end connector assembly, and more particularly to a cable end connector assembly having a pull tab.
2. Description of Related Art
It is well known that a cable end connector assembly comprises a cable end connector and a cable electrically terminated to the cable end connector. The cable end connector assembly is usually maable with a complementary connector for transmitting signals from the cable to the complementary connector.
However, a panel of a chassis to which the complementary connector is mounted may have so many components mounted thereon that an operator can only pull the cable of the cable end connector assembly to separate the cable end connector assembly from the complementary connector if there is no additional device. This may cause wires of the cable be divorced from contacts of the cable end connector, and thus, influences the signal transmission between the cable end connector assembly and the complementary connector inevitably. To solve this problem, different kinds of pull mechanisms are designed. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,379,361, 6,126,479 and 6,416,353 each discloses a pull tab or pull mechanism to solve the problem mentioned above.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,379,361 discloses a pull tab received in a housing of a cable termination assembly and having a plurality of openings for receiving respective deformed parts of signal conductors of a cable. This kind of pull tab is difficult to assemble to the cable termination assembly and the structure thereof is relatively complex.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,416,353 (the 353 patent) discloses an IDC (insulation Displacement Connection) connector assembly which comprises a housing, a cable terminated to contacts received in the housing, a first cover assembled to the housing and cable, and a second cover assembled to the first cover and the hous ing functioning as a pull mechanism for separating the connector assembly from a complementary connector. However, the occupied space of the second cover is relatively big for some special applications.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,126,479 discloses an IDC connector assembly which comprises an elongated housing containing a plurality of contacts therein, a cable electrically terminated to the contacts, an elongated cover assembled to the housing and the cable, and a flexible pull tab received in a slot defined between longitudinal sides of the cover. The elongated cover needs to have a relatively large height for ensuring rigidity thereof and for resisting a pulling force exerted on the pull tab, so it is still undesirable for some special circumstances.
Hence, a cable end connector assembly with an improved pull tab structure is needed to address the problems encountered in the related art.